Pre proposal Printed Products – Professional Dash branding

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MustangBaz

New member
Pre proposal Printed Products – Professional Dash branding

Hello all, I will try to keep this brief as time is our most valuable asset. I would like to gauge the community’s appetite for such a proposal.
I propose to print, package and post printed products to:

  1. The Dash core team

  2. Some or all masternode holders
  3. Some or all promoters advertisers of Dash

  4. All new merchants accepting Dash

  5. Delivery to one location of an array of large/bulky Products for the Dash core team/Marketing manager to decide where best to use in advertising Dash
Possibility to include:

One box to each of 1-4 above under 2kg in weight as postage is a huge cost in this. All designs can be done by Dash’s marketing department whom we will liaise with. The quantity to be included of each printed product in each package is to be determined by overall weight and communities / Core teams preferences.

  1. 250 Business Cards with luxurious feel matt laminated and full colour both sides. (Core Team Only )

  2. Mini Brochures A4 folded in 3 to a trifold (6 panels) could be used to explain dash/promotions/advertise etc – Quantity in each package to be determined by overall weight

  3. Promotional Cards a6 size full colour printed both sides – Quantity in each package to be determined by overall weight.

  4. Flyers a5 size full colour both sides

  5. Letterheads a4 – maybe for core team only?

  6. Compliment slips 1/3 a4 – maybe for core team only?

  7. Presentation Folders matt laminated in oversize a4 size– maybe for core team only?

  8. Branded Envelopes – maybe for core team only?

  9. Notepad a6 in size

  10. Sticky notes a7 size

  11. Ballpoint Pens

  12. Mouse pad

  13. Stickers of various sizes - size possibly 100mm by 75mm?

  14. Window sticker for inside glass (possibly for merchants doors – Dash accepted here?)

  15. Domed sticker for cash register of merchant? 30mm diameter – Dash accepted here?

  16. Keyring/Keychain on leather fob

  17. A2 wall planner calender

  18. A4 24page calendar

  19. Tshirt

  20. Polo shirt

  21. Sweatshirt/hoodie

  22. A4 deskpad – possibly with to do list , calendar on it

  23. Fridge Magnet

Regarding the bulky products – shipped by pallet to one location, could possibly include

  1. 100 quantity of 3ft by 2ft corrugated plastic signs outdoor

  2. 100 quantity of 24” by 18” corrugated plastic signs outdoor

  3. 20 quantity of 6ft by 2ft banners pvc outdoor

  4. 20 quantity of 12ft by 4ft banners pvc outdoor

  5. Posters a2 quantity of 500

  6. Posters a1 quantity of 250

  7. Posters a0 quantity of 100

  8. Roll up banners for trade shows exhibitions quantity of 20, approximately 7ft by 28” roll up into a carry bag

  9. 200 Tshirts

  10. 200 Polo shirts

  11. 100 Sweatshirts/Hoodies

  12. 200 Baseball caps

  13. 200 Cotton Bags

  14. Flags

  15. Display stands

  16. Vehicle Graphics/Signage

  17. Vehicle Wraps

  18. Magnetic Signs for Vehicles

Cost:

Will vary greatly on products chosen, approximate guess $100-300 per box and for bulky goods, depending on quantity and what items and sizes required will vary widely. I apologise for not being able to define costs more clearly but with such a range and without set quantity it is impossible as the price I can purchase raw materials varies with quantity also. I hope the community can advise of what they think necessary.

Benefits to the Dash community

  1. Real world physical products

  2. Can be paid for in Dash

  3. Dash Core Team will have professional printed products/stationery enhancing Dash’s professional approach

  4. Professional and consistent branding

  5. The cost and logistics and huge time involved of sourcing all products not required by Dash Team

  6. Huge scope to use the products by Marketing team to promote Dash

  7. Promotional products are tangible and when given to people who have a vested interest in Dash succeeding (Dash Ambassadors). The y now have real world items to use as tools in promoting the Dash brand further.

  8. A box of branded products to each masternode is a small reward, or thank you to them for believing in Dash and possibly increasing loyalty to remaining masternode holders. What other crypto gives real world tangible rewards?

Potential Risks:

  1. Highly volatile Dash price, a major drop on such a large order could bankrupt our small family business

  2. Community does not know me, can we be trusted to fulfil the order

  3. Will the Quality of products enhance the Dash brand

  4. Dash Core team already have all they need in the line of marketing?

  5. Cost of 5 Dash to put in a proposal which is significant, will be lost if proposal not funded. Any sponsors welcome, possibly rewarded with an extra batch of products?

  6. Deliveries get lost in the post – negated by registered post and signed for delivery (more costly postage)?

  7. Deliveries in some countries can be unreliable with their local postal service

Who is the proposer:

I have been in the print industry among others for nearly 20 years, I have run a number of small businesses. I have a Degree in Business and Accounting. I have studied law part time for the last 5 years and have acted as a barrister. I have spent many years studying and researching money(gold/silver), currencies, central banks, fiat money and many alternative systems.

We are located in Wexford, Ireland. Link to our online shop where we sell custom wall murals on Etsy website search Hughesprint (forum wont let me post link) some samples of our work on facebook search HughesSignsPrint (forum wont let me post link)

All comments welcome, especially recommendations on following:
  1. Would a core team pack be of benefit to the core team

  2. Would a Merchant pack be of benefit to the Merchant or even be a selling point – heres a box of free stuff if you accept Dash in your business?

  3. What products are needed

  4. Quantities required

  5. Is Dash sticking purely to online marketing and this type of tangible branding is not required

  6. Will your Mother trust Dash more and might try use Dash when seeing real world physical products/trusted brand – or continue to ignore all that online stuff? Do you also get when explaining cryptos, some people just get that glazed over eyes look?

  7. Will someone play devils advocate and poke as many holes as possible in this potential proposal, so as we do not waste each others time taking it any further.
Thank you for taking the time to read this pre proposal, and please let me know if you see any value in it and any improvements you would recommend before submitting. I will be attending the Dash conference in London, and look forward to meeting any of you also attending.

Kind Regards
Barry Kirwan​
 
I actually like this idea! Just like a normal company supplies uniforms for their employees, so should Dash. I'm actually a mailman btw so if you need some input on shipping I can help you with that.

One of the problems I see is that the Core team isn't out "in the field" so to speak, mostly in an office where no one will ever see them, so that is mostly not necessary. But a free Dash shirt to each Core member wouldn't be bad. I think it would much more be tailered to the Dash members that are out there Marketing, doing meet ups, interviews, and large network events. Full out Dash branded clothes that are very high quality for when they do talks on stages such as Tedx or any other large event could be worth it. All the way down to the socks if you wanted to haha.
 
reg core
tx but we are more flexible by producing when needed than storing huge amounts of printed matter
+
where to store it (centralised ) ?
we have more flexibility printing in (example) conference locations and using it there where needed
small amounts of leftovers (flyers and such) are obviously reused (if still relevant) or left for local communities
+
flyers and such are changing quite frequent - depending on the angle of presentation
(biz cards are all sorted since a long time )
 
Thanks for your replys,
Tungfa - You make a good point about centralised storage on some of the bulky items, which I agree with you on the flyers changing etc, The banners, signs, roll ups, could be designed as generic branding so they would last indefinetely (no dates/specific promotions)- sorry I should have explained this better. With our digital presses and printers we can also produce on demand for each exhibition given enough lead time for postage, thereby no need for storage and custom flyers etc can be produced for each event. This was one part of the proposal for discussion

Maybe I should have split them, the Main part which I would appreciate your opinion on is the branded package to possibly be sent to all masternodes/core team/ambassadors/advertisers and if there is any apetite for that in the community in aiding the Dash brand?
 
I think, if this was ever viable, it would have to printed / shipped locally, country by country. It's hard to imagine it working any other way.

Tbh, I think anyone significantly involved in dash, including most MNOs, have already purchased or printed their own stuff.

On a related note, the current batch of promotional graphics at dash.org are grossly inadequate. Most of the designs are aimed at online usage, or requires some kind of modification. What we really need is a big catalogue of downloadable merchandise designs, stuff that needs the minimum of modification.

It would also be useful to have a bunch of shops listed by country where people can purchase dash swag directly.

Any thoughts @tungfa @Mark Mason ?

(btw, forum isn't letting me upload svg or large png files)
 
Thanks @GrandMasterDash for tagging me. Well, what do I think..... Well, funnily enough I just purchased some tees etc today to give away to attendees at the London conference. I don't want to give away all the details as that would spoil the element of surprise.

I think the idea needs to be more clearly defined. Is this targeted at just Core, Core are mostly remote workers. I think uniforms is an internal issue and should be decided by Core alone. As for the community there are already options available.

It seems to be leaning more towards a merchandise solution for international community. This is not a new idea, but I welcome the conversation as I feel community wearing Dash merch out in public places is one of the best forms of grass roots guerilla marketing. This is something I openly encourage and take part in myself.

I do think it is important to point out there are already solutions available online to purchase Dash swag in both Fiat and Dash. I even saw shirts listed on Amazon.com

Off the top of my head. There is one store I set up recently which was created purely so I could order swag for Stephen Baldwin, Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert as no one else offered the graphics /designs I wanted so I just did my own thing as I needed a quick solution.

For those that are interested:


https://www.teepublic.com/user/dash
https://www.buywithdash.org/
http://www.zazzle.com/dashswag?rf=238493835303603977

I agree with @tungfa that Core have their hands full. Running a a shopping solution and handling queries/questions/returns/shipping might be a bit problematic for them as they have to prioritise their duties and responsibilities else where. An automated solution with an internional shipping fulfillment partner is the best option in my eyes.

I have already recently publicly stated my intention to launch a Dash swag online store as my next project with Dash payment solution with embroidered hats etc. with a view to launch in a months time would be a better solution for me. This would not be proposal funded. I wanted to create an automated 3rd party printing and shipping online solution with a Dash payment solution integration.

I personally got my Dash t shirts/hoodies printed locally as a one off. I was contemplating just giving out the files to the t-shirt artwork etc. to community as it will be the most cost effective and direct way for international community to engage local businesses to get their own swag printed.

That way people don't have to worry about long shipping times, expensive international shipping fees, custom import charges/taxes etc. to worry about.
 
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Mark Mason said:
Thanks @GrandMasterDash for tagging me. Well, what do I think..... Well, funnily enough I just purchased some tees etc today to give away to attendees at the London conference. I don't want to give away all the details as that would spoil the element of surprise.

I think the idea needs to be more clearly defined. Is this targeted at just Core, Core are mostly remote workers. I think uniforms is an internal issue and should be decided by Core alone. As for the community there are already options available.

It seems to be leaning more towards a merchandise solution for international community. This is not a new idea, but I welcome the conversation as I feel community wearing Dash merch out in public places is one of the best forms of grass roots guerilla marketing. This is something I openly encourage and take part in myself.

I do think it is important to point out there are already solutions available online to purchase Dash swag in both Fiat and Dash. I even saw shirts listed on Amazon.com

Off the top of my head. There is one store I set up recently which created purely so I could order swag for Stephen Baldwin, Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert as no one else offered the graphics /designs I wanted so i jsut did my own thing as I needed a quick solution.

For those that are interested:


https://www.teepublic.com/user/dash
https://www.buywithdash.org/
http://www.zazzle.com/dashswag?rf=238493835303603977

I agree with @tungfa that Core have their hands full. Running a a shopping solution and handling queries/questions/returns/shipping might be a bit problematic for them as they have to prioritise their duties and responsibilities else where. An automated solution with an internional shipping fulfillment partner is the best option in my eyes.

I have already recently publicly stated my intention to launch a Dash swag online store as my next project with Dash payment solution with embroidered hats etc. with a view to launch in a months time would be a better solution for me. This would not be proposal funded. I wanted to create an automated 3rd party printing and shipping online solution with a Dash payment solution integration.

I personally got my Dash t shirts/hoodies printed locally as a one off. I was contemplating just giving out the files to the t-shirt artwork etc. to community as it will be the most cost effective and direct way for international community to engage local businesses to get their own swag printed.

That way people don't have to worry about long shipping times, expensive international shipping fees, custom import charges/taxes etc. to worry about.
Click to expand...

Yes, I saw the shirts you had in the recent episode which is why I tagged you.

I agree, we don't have to actually sell the stuff directly, but we can make it as easy as possible for people to source. I think we should have dedicated pages on dash.org. First, we need a directory of sites selling dash swag, sorted by country, thus enabling users to buy locally. And secondly, we really should expand our promotional graphics section to include material suitable for merchandise.

Also, how about a dash t-shirt design competition? - winner gets a dash prize plus a case load of merchandise featuring their design. It should be a relatively high profile competition / big prize to attract some good talent.
 
GrandMasterDash said:
Yes, I saw the shirts you had in the recent episode which is why I tagged you.

I agree, we don't have to actually sell the stuff directly, but we can make it as easy as possible for people to source. I think we should have dedicated pages on dash.org. First, we need a directory of sites selling dash swag, sorted by country, thus enabling users to buy locally. And secondly, we really should expand our promotional graphics section to include material suitable for merchandise.

Also, how about a dash t-shirt design competition? - winner gets a dash prize plus a case load of merchandise featuring their design. It should be a relatively high profile competition / big prize to attract some good talent.
Click to expand...

I've just messaged @philadashia about doing a swag giveaway on 3 amigos this Friday.

As for Core site that is not a bad suggestion.

I'm hoping to find a fulfillment partner that has printing and shipping facilities in both US and Europe to keep costs down and make things as easy as possible.
 
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Hello I have been producing dashswag since late 2015 which I have been handing out to my customers in the IT industry helping spread the ideals of DASH 1 person at a time. I launched the zazzle sub-store for credit card purchases and I leverage it for orders on buywithdash.org which allows for DASH purchases at discount. I did this as a way to get shirts and promo merchandise in lower quantities to myself and others and this way I don't have to keep an inventory.... There are seriously 100's of print your own promotional product companies.... I am even launching a new one that is focused on the art vs the product it's on check out http://www.galloree.com/DASHSWAG-6103.htm

I like the comments coming out of this thread, its very true one tricky part was finding the art work massaging it for printing on stuff like mugs, shirts, ties, whatever. Its true the media section on dash.org is focused on art for web sites and I have recreated some of this art just for some of my products. I would like to take this information here and start to make all the art for my products available for anyone else to easily download and print your own stuff locally.
 
i agree
dash swag online store should cover that need for t shirts , pens and such
conference things we really have sorted out for core and do that event by event tbh
 
Thank you all for your thoughts, It appears from your comments there is no need to promote dash with printed products in this form of pre proposal. I am assuming ye are not suffering from "group think" and have your finger on the pulse so to speak, as a masternode holder and core team member, and Mark whom is very active and starting his own promotional dash products store, have commented above and I assume ye speak for the general consensus of the community.

Im glad it has at least started a discussion and identified that current artwork is lacking and needs attention/updating.

I would be curious to know, were all the printed products, business cards, tshirts, hoodies and each events promotional materials all paid for with Dash or did you have to resort to Fiat currency?

Also ye seem to have formed the opinion that all masternodes have already bought all their own Dash swag and further tshirts/promotional products they would receive and either use themselves or give away would not promote the brand further?

I would like to hear your thoughts on a Merchants pack which was not addressed?
 
It seems the graphics section of dash.org (https://www.dash.org/graphics/) has not been updated to included merchandise designs or links to dash swag stores. Just give me the passwords etc and I'll do it myself!

Also @Mark Mason have you arranged the swag design competition and giveaway yet? (I haven't seen the latest episode yet). I don't know what plans you have but I am hoping the competition is targeting graphic designers and not just the dash community... obviously, with a suitably attractive prize. Thoughts?
 
tungfa said:
swag stores and t shirt designs do not belong there so we never included that
we should find another "home" for that
Click to expand...

Perhaps you misunderstand. I am saying two things:

1. I am not saying the swag stores themselves should be on dash.org, I am saying it would be useful to dash users if there was a directory of swag stores listed by country, thus allowing people to source material locally.

2. Yes, the graphics section of dash.org should definitely include downloadable designs for merchandise. How can we justify one set of promotional graphics over another? Whether it's promotion via web or t-shirt, they both serve the same purpose. The opportunity to promote dash should be easy for our users, get our name out there in front of people.
 
GrandMasterDash said:
Perhaps you misunderstand. I am saying two things:

1. I am not saying the swag stores themselves should be on dash.org, I am saying it would be useful to dash users if there was a directory of swag stores listed by country, thus allowing people to source material locally.

2. Yes, the graphics section of dash.org should definitely include downloadable designs for merchandise. How can we justify one set of promotional graphics over another? Whether it's promotion via web or t-shirt, they both serve the same purpose. The opportunity to promote dash should be easy for our users, get our name out there in front of people.
Click to expand...

k got it

swag stores by country - well they will be listed under merchants (general) if they ping me
t shirt design - we have 99% t shirts with a Dash on chest - go to T Shirt Shop - bring logo - done
(there is not much to be listed tbh - or am i missing something)

Edit
i am happy to receive T Shirt designs and list them if needed
 
tungfa said:
k got it

swag stores by country - well they will be listed under merchants (general) if they ping me
t shirt design - we have 99% t shirts with a Dash on chest - go to T Shirt Shop - bring logo - done
(there is not much to be listed tbh - or am i missing something)

Edit
i am happy to receive T Shirt designs and list them if needed
Click to expand...

When I go to https://www.dash.org/merchants/ I have to scroll through everything just to see what's available. Instead, near the top of the page (under "Merchant Map, Integrate Dash, Get Listed"), there needs to be fast links to the various categories ("Debit Cards", "Email Providers" etc). No scrolling! One of those categories should be "Dash Merchandise", taking the user to a separate page where the stuff is listed by country. People are unlikely to order from overseas when they can get it locally.

The point is, it needs to be simple and fast to find. Multiple clicks and lots of scrolling isn't going to help. The same is true for the merchandise designs. Put a link to the merchandise section right there at the top of the front page, not buried in a menu and most definitely not three clicks away.

Show me a one-click download for "Dash - Digital Cash" with zero editing. It's not there! How about "Digital Cash" in Montserrat Light or Gunship Bold Italic pre-made, zero editing required. Where's the Trollero design? There's scope for plenty more designs but we need the help of creatives. Let's not underestimate the power of merchandise, people notice it, it starts conversations.
 
i totally hear u
but that merchant listing will always be a "pain" as we have so many categories going on and more coming constantly (from hot sauce to servers ; )
i lok into it

trollero design - not sure what u mean
 
Or, drop the merchants page from dash.org, move all graphics resources to Discover Dash, and put a direct link to Dash Discover Dash near the top of the front page. What do you think?

EDIT: I mean to say, the "Graphics" section of dash.org is promotional material and therefore might be better placed on Discover Dash. The same for merchandise and designs.
 
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